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  Quetta, Pakistan
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

From departing Esfehan we have spent travelling through desert and stopping at three towns: Yazd (Iran), Bam (Iran) and Dalbandin (Pakistan). Staight after Esfehan and before Yazd we headed South to the ancient ruins of Perspolis which was cool but compared to Rome the ruins weren't much.

The next night we bush camped in the desert which are by far the best to camp in; comfortable temperature, no grass so no dew in the morning, clear stary skies (we could see Jupiter and its moons through binoculars) and nobody for miles around.

Yazd was a good break after two days traversing the desert. Sadly we spent a Friday there (in Muslim country's it is their Sunday) so everything was closed pretty much, showing just how religiously important Friday is in Iran. But it was good to walk around this mud built city (which according to Unesco is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world). I was able to climb the minarets of Jameh mosque where I could see the whole city, surrounding deserts and mountains.

Just before the border we visited Bam which was hit by an earthquake in 2003

Desert camp enroute to Pakistan

. Was a sobering experience driving through what was once prosperous town but now piles of rubble and wrecked houses line the street. It was good to see a lot of rebuilding being done but a shame that more progress hadn't been made since the quake. We visisted the once standing ruins of a large bazaar to the North side of the town. Here some archaeologists showed me and Dave work being done to restore it and some ancient pottery. I spent some money in a shop nearby but wanted to do much more to help this poor town.

After camping right on the border (the Iranian side though, Pakistan side not too safe) we plodded through the various border procedures and headed North. Balochistan (the Pakistani region we are in) is not the safest region of Pakistan due to its barren deserts and border with Afghanistan - ie bandit country - so we had an escort to Dalbandin and then on to Quetta the following day (yesterday). In Dalbandin we stayed in a cockroach infested hotel roof with armed gaurds watching over us. Easily the worse place stayed in so far - there was only one working toilet in all its 3 storeys.

Quetta has really hit home that we are now in Pakistan. The people are very different in appearance from their Persian counterparts (which is understandable looking at the amount of uninhabited (bar the odd nomad tribe and wild camels) desert we have just crossed. Whereas in Iran the men wore jeans and shirts (western) and the women wore black here all the men wear shawakameez - XXXXL baggy clothesn (which I am off to buy in the bazaar in a few minutes) and the few women we do see wear colourful saris. The streets in Iran were clean but here they are dirty and smelly (and noisier) - earlier I saw little boys picking up dripping wet, dirt covered rubbish and putting it into the flowing grey water that flows in channels beside the road. Donkeys pull carts of various contents. The service buses are the brightest most colourful and decorated buses you will ever see. The road is nearly impossible to cross. And of course everybody stares!!

Famous last words - I will get photos up soon!

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